RENEWABLE OR
NONRENEWABLE
RESOURCES
HOW MUCH DO YOU
ALREADY KNOW ABOUT
OUR RESOURCES?
LET’S FIND OUT!
RENEWABLE OR
NONRENEWABLE
RESOURCES
Read each statement in your lab
book. Mark your choice of true
or false at the beginning of
each statement.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Natural resources are the raw
materials supplied by the earth
and its processes and include
things in the physical environment
used for housing, clothing, heating,
cooling, and transportation that
meet other human wants and
needs.
NATURAL RESOURCES
EXAMPLES:
Trees are used for shelter.
Animals for food and clothing.
Plants for medicine.
Minerals and fossil fuels for
power, transportation, heating
and cooling.
NATURAL RESOURCES
All these resources include soil,
air, water, sunshine, forests,
wildlife, fish, fossil fuels,
metals and minerals produced
by the earth’s natural
processes.
RENEWABLE OR
NONRENEWABLE
RESOURCES
Resources such as trees, fish, oxygen, and
fresh water are generally considered to
be renewable resources because they can
be renewed. Fresh air from the oxygen
produced by plants, trees, and fish which
can reproduce themselves are other
examples. The kind of resources that can
be replaced in a short time is called
RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES.
RENEWABLE OR
NONRENEWABLE
RESOURCES
The kind of natural resource that
can be replaced only at a slow rate,
or not at all is called a NONRENEWABLE NATURAL
RESOURCE. Minerals and fossil
fuels taken out of the earth like
oil and gas are non-renewable
natural resources.
RENEWABLE can be defined
as:
“Capable of being replaced by
natural ecological cycles or
sound management practices.”
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
1. Natural resources such as air,
water and sunlight come from
nature.
TRUE
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
2. Renewable resources are
resources whose supplies
never stop.
TRUE
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
3. Humans only use renewable
resources.
FALSE ~ We use both.
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
4. Natural resources such as
trees are nonrenewable
resources.
FALSE ~ Trees are renewable.
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
5. Nonrenewable resources are
replaced only when made in
factories.
FALSE ~ Nonrenewable are not
replaceable.
LET’S CHECK OUR T/F
ANSWERS
6. Earth’s natural resources will
be used up in 25 years or less.
FALSE ~ We will continue to
research this in our next
lesson.
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
a. Fresh water’s renewal is threatened
by:
When fresh ground water gets used up and
no rain falls, sometimes for years,
more than ¾ of underground water is
nonrenewable. (chemical spills, overuse,
insufficient treatment plans)
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
b. Trees’ renewal is threatened by:
Deregulation, enforcement of existing
laws, growth
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
c. Oxygen and clean air renewal is
threatened by:
When forests and plants get destroyed
from acids, they no longer produce
oxygen.
(pollution, growth)
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
d. Land and soil renewal is threatened by:
When land is over grazed or the nutrients
in the soil is used up due to farming,
the soil cannot renew itself.
Mismanaged growth, erosion
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
e. Habitat renewal is threatened by:
Oil spills (Exxon), pollution, war,
population growth
Factors that impact a
resource’s ability to renew
supplies:
f. Fish renewal is threatened by:
Toxins kills aquatic life like fish, streams,
rivers, lakes, and others.
(pollution, nutrient run-off, erosion,
growth)